Review: "Les Cowboys"

At the finale of “The Searchers,” perhaps the most seminal Western film ever made, Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) finally catches up with the niece who was kidnapped years earlier by Comanches. A violent and virulently racist man, Ethan has vowed to kill her himself rather than let a white girl continue to live as an Indian. But then he embraces the niece and brings her back into the arms of their family. Love wins over hate.

“The Cowboys” is part ode to John Ford’s masterpiece, and part repudiation of it. Here, love does not always win, and often hate and anger define us, or at least our actions.

It’s a modern French Western -- and who knew there was such a thing? -- whose novelty is more praiseworthy than its execution. Thomas Bidegain is a noted screenwriter -- “A Prophet, “Rust and Bone” -- making his directorial debut with this movie, which he co-wrote with Noé Debré.

It consciously parallels the narrative of “The Searchers,” with a bitter authority figure who gives up everything in pursuit of a female relative taken by men he regards as alien and savage. In tow is a younger man, whose attitudes are less severe, but he ends up making the quest his own.

Initially set in 1994, the story encompasses about a decade and a half. François Damiens plays Alain Balland, a businessman who sidelines as a crooner at cowboy festivals and such, sporting a black 10-gallon hat and a swagger. His wife (Agathe Dronne) and kids enthusiastically join in the fun. But then his 16-year-old daughter, Kelly (Iliana Zabeth), disappears out of the blue.

The cops are unhelpful, the bureaucrats irritating, the leads quickly hit dead ends. Alain’s only clue is a curt letter from Kelly telling them she’s found a new life and not to seek her out. He is not the sort of man to lay aside what he sees as his duty, so he keeps looking.

It appears Kelly ran off with a boyfriend, Ahmed, a Muslim immigrant, which mortifies Alain. He angrily denounces the boy’s parents as “ragheads,” though they seem decent folk. Alain gets close a couple of times, but then the trail dries up.

Flash forward a few years. Alain is thicker, grayer, but no less determined. His son, Georges (Finnegan Oldfield), is now a teen and his resentful companion in the hunt. They go to Belgium, meet with forgers, pay off informants. Funds and help are scarce -- Alain has long ago abandoned his career and marriage -- so they resort to stealing gas to continue.

The journey goes on and on, post-9/11, into the Middle East -- troubled places where Islamic radicalism hold sway. John C. Reilly shows up as an American agent of dubious intent, offering help while carrying out his own shadowy pursuits.

Damiens is a haunting presence, a man who will do anything in pursuit of what he deems right, even if he commits much wrong along the way. Oldfield grows before our eyes from a timid youngster to a hardened man who unwittingly takes up his father’s mantle, and methods.

The story takes too long getting where it wants to, then seems in a terrible hurry to wrap things up in the final act. Momentous life-changing events are given short shrift with too little screen time for the emotional impact to land. A late-arriving character, a Pakistani woman named Shazhana (Ellora Torchia), is introduced more as an idea than a believable person.

It’s an interesting of not entirely successful film. There’s no shame in imitating a classic and falling short, as “Les Cowboys” does.

 

Review: "Delicacy"

"Delicacy" is a little bit sad, a little bit sweet, and distinctly French. It's also something of a meditation on physical beauty, though not in the sort of way you'd expect.

Audrey Tautou plays Nathalie, one-half of a perfect couple that's sundered when her husband (Pio Marmaï) dies in a car accident. Years later, having grown accustomed to her loneliness, Nathalie suddenly and inexplicably takes up a tremulous romance with a homely, shy co-worker whom nobody thinks is a good match for her.

The subject of female attractiveness is often addressed in the movies, both implicitly and explicitly, but they tend to be pretty oblivious on male handsomeness. Actors like Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen routinely hook up with unaccountably hot onscreen partners.

Because Tautou is roughly France's equivalent of Julia Roberts, it brings an extra layer of attention to the physical disparity between her and Belgian actor François Damiens. Audiences like to look at pretty pairings, and here the filmmakers deliberately underline the incongruity.

Now, Damiens is not actually some sort of bridge troll, just not handsome in a classically cinematic way, and possesses one of those unfortunate balding patterns that makes his head look like it has mange. But Damiens accentuates his character's awkwardness and indistinctness, giving us a portrait of a man people aren't repulsed by, but someone they simply don't notice.

"An ugly, insignificant guy" is how a jealous rival for Nathalie's affections describes him, and that's a pretty spot-on description of how everyone regards him, and possibly even how Markus thinks of himself.

A Swede living and working amongst the French, Markus operates in a seemingly self-imposed isolation. The employees in the office next to his don't recognize his name when Nathalie comes looking for him. His clothes are so bland it appears as if he never changes them.

Their affair begins when Markus reports one day to Nathalie, who is his boss, and in a fog she sidles up to him and plants a passionate kiss. When he comes back the next day and asks her about it, she is unaware of what she did, and apologizes. Needless to say, that doesn't do wonders for his ego.

But eventually they begin a furtive though chaste romance, going to plays and restaurants. Nathalie finds something comfortable about Markus, who is guileless and sweet-natured. This contrasts with Nathalie's predatory manager Charles (Bruno Todeschini), who can accept that she has rejected him but not that it is in favor of the uncharismatic Markus. Nathalie's friends are baffled why she would date someone so unlike herself.

"Delicacy" was co-directed by brothers Stéphane and David Foenkinos, from a screenplay by David based upon his novel. This is their first feature film behind the camera, and they bring a lyrical, magical quality to the story.

The duo often ignore cinematic storytelling conventions, almost as if they find them dull and unworthy. For example, we don't meet Markus until 40 minutes into the movie for that kissing scene, and the next thing we see he's walking down the street to a slow-motion musical interlude where pretty girls are all looking his way. Most filmmakers would feel a need to set up that character more before giving him such a scene, but the Foenkinoses find that shorthand sometimes works best.

There's not a terrible lot of depth to "Delicacy," just a simple story about star-crossed lovers. In this case, they aren't separated by warring families but by everyone's expectations for them. What a sweet way to disappoint.

3 stars out of four